Following the commencement of the lockdown in March for the UK, my lifestyle has changed significantly. I’ve added some new habits. The one habit which I’ve seamlessly incorporated into my day is doing regular exercise. Why is exercise important? What are the benefits? What do I think about it after doing it for the past few months?
What was my motivation to start & what type of exercise do I do?
The simple answer to this is Joe Wicks. During the early stages of lockdown, Joe Wicks (otherwise known as the ‘Bodycoach’) started doing live workouts to encourage people like me to do more exercise. I unquestionably thank him for not only motivating me but many people across the globe to do more exercise. He consistently did them Monday through to Friday for the first 2 months or so, and later reduced the volume of workouts to 3 per week. He generally does HIIT(High-intensity interval training) with each workout lasting around 20-30 minutes.
For people who want to gradually weave in daily exercise, I highly recommend visiting his channel to start with something small. That’s how I did it. When planning to do a workout I suggest you go relaxed for the first few days and then begin pushing yourself from your previous sessions. This would allow you to develop consistency because you’d feel like you did better than before. I’ve found that consistency is the most important aspect when doing exercise. Like Joe Wicks, even I am committed to waking up every morning to do a quick workout and getting a great start to my day.
When I generally do my workouts/exercise my dad also does it with me. It makes a huge difference without a doubt because not only can you push others but you can also push yourself. Every time I do a certain exercise in my mind I always want to do more reps than the others but that’s something I’ve always kept a secret. Oh well, I guess it’s not something only I do.
Hey, if your ancestors did it then why can’t you?
I think it’s important to understand human bodies were made to do regular exercise for both a happy and healthy life. Think of it like this, our ancestors who lived in previous generations were always on the move to find food & shelter. This meant they had to travel long distances for these basic necessities. Humans, therefore, adapted to these conditions and evolved to be more able to carry out these tasks. So it’s only natural that humans in the 21st century need to do some form of exercise every day whether that is playing a sport, running or even walking. Nowadays, we have too many choices, so I guess there’s no excuse to not do exercise.
What are the benefits of exercising?
1) Makes you feel happier – First and most important (in my opinion) advantage of exercise is the feeling of happiness. Especially, after you just complete a session; you can look back and be proud that you’re one step closer to your goal, whatever it may be. Additionally, you are sure to be more active and positive during the day.
2) Less likely to have mental illnesses – When exercising, your brain releases many chemicals. Some of these include serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine and endorphins. Each chemical has it’s own specific purpose. All these would combine to keep your brain and body away from negative thoughts and give you positive results. Now, don’t worry I’m not gonna go in-depth with all these chemicals but, it’s worth knowing your brain in a way a laboratory itself. Who needs medication for mental illnesses when you got exercise eh?!
3) Helps sleep better – As soon as you complete an exercise your body temperature would increase. Your body will naturally try to bring it back to normal and by the time that happens, you’d start to feel more drowsy. Moreover, many studies have proven that exercise allows for a person to go through a longer deep sleep phase than a person who doesn’t, meaning they’d have a better sleep.
4) Weight loss – This is generally the primary reason many people choose to do exercise. Even I wanted to try to get slightly thinner now, but, this wasn’t my primary drive; my drive was to see how exercise would affect me psychologically. However, exercise alone won’t make a difference because your diet also plays a major part. Our primary source of energy is from carbohydrates and secondary is from fats. So when exercising you are burning calories which is essentially stored as carbs and fats hence you lose weight when you burn fat.
How much should you aim to do?
It’s recommended that every person should do around 30 minutes of physical activity per day 5 times a week. I do a 20-30 minute HIIT session every day for 5-7 days a week as well as my tennis during the week so I’m very happy with my current schedule. I definitely recommend that you plan out a routine to do every week and follow it. However, it may get slightly tedious after a certain point but that’s when you need to realise the countless benefits you’re gaining from exercise and trust me you don’t want to miss out on them. That was by far the toughest challenge for me, the fact that I had to maintain my consistency.
Today, thanks to my motivation to start exercise I’ve felt significantly happier. Unknowingly, it’s not only happiness you receive with exercise but, you also get many bonus perks including a lower likelihood of having mental illnesses, weight loss, better physical health and many more benefits which are too specific to list. Try and think of one negative of exercise. I’d be surprised if you found any because I only see positives. So what are you waiting for? Get out of your couch and start working, not tomorrow, not in a bit but now!
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